G1Mini Vehicles: Outback

1986 saw the final wave of Mini Vehicle, though their supply of previous Takara designs was exhausted. Brawn transforms into a generic off-road vehicle resembling a Land Rover Ninety (known later as the Land Rover Defender), with a Jeep-inspired chrome grill, and sporting a spare wheel and a newly-acquired recoilless rifle on the roof.

US Patent for G1 Brawn

Origins

Outback was heavily retooled and redecorated from G1Brawn. Unlike any of the other Mini Vehicles, Outback was given a gun accessory to decorate his vehicle mode, as well as considerable retooling from Brawn like new fists and a new face. Outback was based on the desgin by Hideaki Yoke. The original US Patent for Brawn, titled Reconfigurable toy vehicle (aka Transformers G1 Brawn), was filed on October 4, 1985 (U.S. Patent No. USD297035 S).

Description

Outback is molded primarily in two colors, brown, and a sandy tan. He shares his deeply treaded plastic wheels with wave-mates Pipes and Swerve. Like all the former Microchange Mini CAR “big vehicles,” he also shares a similar, very simple, transformation scheme. His chrome arms pull out from the sides, where they are hidden behind rotating door panels, and his legs swing down from the rear of the vehicle. Also like his brethren, his face is molded and painted flush with the bottom of the vehicle. Outback’s low price point meant he included no accessories and only a sparse couple of stickers. Paint detail is limited to his face. In his truck mode, the included recoilless rifle accessory can be pegged into the screw hole in his spare tire.

Collector Notes

Outback’s chrome arms are frequently broken and missing. they are a weak point in the design, and can be easily snapped off from the shoulder pins if they are pulled in the wrong direction. Furthermore, his arms may appear to be whole to the casual observer even when the chrome ares are missing due to the arm-like shape of his doors in robot mode.

Variants

Outback’s most notable variant comes from Mexico. All Outbacks produced by Mexican licensee Plasticos IGA use an unaltered Brawn mold, but Outback’s brown and tan deco.